Iran

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27 May 2008
U.N. Agency Report Critical of Iran's Nuclear Cooperation

By Merle D. Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer

Washington -- A new report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about Iran's nuclear development program is an indictment of that nation’s defiance of legitimate efforts to obtain clear information about the program, says a senior U.S. diplomat. The report "details a long list of questions that Iran has failed to answer," says U.S. Ambassador Gregory Schulte in Vienna, Austria.

"At the same time that Iran is stonewalling its inspectors, it's moving forward in developing its enrichment capability in violation of [U.N.] Security Council resolutions," Schulte said in an interview May 26.

Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei sent IAEA’s most recent report to the U.N. Security Council and the 35-member IAEA board of governors May 26. The board of governors will meet June 2 in Vienna to discuss the report and decide whether it will send any further recommendations to the Security Council. The report covers the period since ElBaradei made his last report to the board on February 22.

The nine-page report accuses Iran of a lack of cooperation in answering detailed questions about its highly controversial nuclear enrichment program and whether the program is aimed at building nuclear weapons, according to news reports.

ElBaradei's February report said Iran had between 3,300 and 3,400 P-1 centrifuges operating at a low capacity at the Natanz uranium enrichment plant. The centrifuges are used to enrich uranium. The P-1 centrifuges are older models from the 1970s.

Recent Western intelligence reports have indicated Iran has been working on explosives, uranium processing and missile warhead design, which could be intended for weapons development.

White House press secretary Dana Perino, traveling with President Bush on Air Force One May 27, said that because of Iran’s failure to cooperate fully and openly with the IAEA, the United States can conclude only that Iran wants to preserve the ability to weaponize. "Iran's continued nuclear fuel cycle development reinforces this conclusion," she said.

"This report apparently demonstrates that Iran has not met its international obligations, and continues to violate the commitments that it committed to," she said.

At a State Department briefing May 27, spokesman Sean McCormack said the report characterizes Iran's defiance as "willfully withholding information about their activities related to potential weaponization." Iran has failed to answer even basic questions about its ongoing uranium enrichment program and its intended purpose, he said.

"There are a number of different questions out there about the military's involvement in this nuclear program, about Iran's efforts to fabricate hemispheres of uranium," McCormack said. And he reminded reporters that the IAEA is acting on behalf of the international community and the United Nations.

McCormack said Iran's lack of cooperation is disturbing given that the Security Council has imposed three sanctions resolutions on Iran since 2006 demanding that it end uranium enrichment. The five permanent U.N. Security Council members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany are offering Iran an incentives package to stop its nuclear development program.

And Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign and security policy chief, said May 26 in Brussels, Belgium, that he will travel to Iran within the month to present the new offer of political, technological, security and trade incentives that are designed to persuade Iran to end its uranium enrichment program. Accompanying Solana will be representatives from Great Britain, China, France and Russia. The incentives were agreed to during a meeting in May in London, but have not been made public.

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